Tying mechanism for bales

ABSTRACT

A bale tying mechanism in a bale press comprises a reciprocable forked needle which forms against three spaced intercepting members two standing wire loops in the spaces between the intercepting members. The intermediate intercepting member has co-operating cutting members for severing the wire forming the loops where such wire engages the intermediate intercepting member.

United States Patent Persson 1 June6, 1972 TYING MECHANISM FOR BALESInventor: Bengt Ake Persson, Traktorgatan, Sweden Assignee: Personer AB,Ystad, Sweden Filed: Mar. 15, 1971 Appl. No.: 124,407

U.S. Cl ..l00/19, 100/31, 100/192 Int. Cl ..B65b-l3/28 Field of Search..100/17,18,19, 24, 29, 31,

References Cited I UNiTED STATES PATENTS Fraula ..100/19 X Altgelt..100/19 X 2,621,588 12/1952 McClellan et a1 ..100/19 X 3,528,364 9/1970Freund 100/1 7 X 3,587,448 6/1971 Hemphill et al 100/1 7 X PrimaryExaminer-Billy J. Wilhite Attorney-Jones and Lockwood [57] ABSTRACT Abale tying mechanism in a bale press comprises a reciprocable forkedneedle which forms against three spaced intercepting members twostanding wire loops in the spaces between the intercepting members. Theintermediate intercepting member has co-operating cutting members forsevering the wire forming the loops where such wire engages theintermediate intercepting member.

3 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUN 6 I972 3, 667. 377

sum 3 OF 7 Fig 4 PATENTEDJUH s 1912 SHEET 5 BF 7 Fig. 8

Fig. 7

TYING MECHANISM FOR BALES The present invention relates to tying ofbales which are compacted in a bale case against bound bales being fedthrough the bale case against an applied back pressure.

At present when tying bales a wire extended at one side of the bales isformed to a loop behind each completed bale transversely of the feedingdirection of the bales, and such wire is manually locked around the baleby severing the wire loop to provide between two successive bales twofree wire ends and manually twisting these wire ends to form a knot atthe forward and rearward end, respectively, of a bale at the other sidethereof. Although the loop forming operation of this tying method isaccomplished automatically by means of machinery, the tying steps haveto be performed manually to a substantial part.

An object of the present invention is to provide a complete automatictying operation and, therefore, there is provided according to theinvention in a bale press having a bale case and a plunger reciprocablein said bale case and forming at least one groove in the face thereof, atying mechanism for bales comprising at least one needle reciprocablethrough said groove from one of two opposite sides of the bale casetransversely thereof, said needle being forked to provide two legs;means for supplying a first wire to said one side of the bale case;three intercepting members spaced in the longitudinal direction of saidbale case at the other one of said opposite sides; means for supplying asecondwire to said other side of the bale case, said needle passingthrough the spaces between said intercepting members to engage saidfirst and second wires and to form thereof two wire loops spaced in thelongitudinal direction of said passage; a wire twisting member oppositeeach of the spaces between said intercepting members for twisting saidwire loops individually; two elements displaceableon the centralintercepting member for movement towards and away from each other;co-operating cutting members on said elements disposed at the side ofsaid central intercepting member which faces the bale case; and meansfor displacing said elements towards and away from each other to keepthe elements spaced when the wire loops are formed and to thereaftersevere the wires by means of the cutting members when said elements aredisplaced towards each other.

For a better understanding of the invention an embodiment thereof nowwill be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawingsshowing a baler with a tying mechanism according to the invention.

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the baler and thetying mechanism;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged end view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 the balecase being shown in cross section at the place where the needles aremoved through the passage of the bale case;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the plunger;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a twisting hook, an associatedspindle thereof being shown in cross section;

FIGS. 5 to 8 are enlarged axial sectional views of the bale case of thebaler and the co-operating members of the tying mechanism disclosingseveral operational steps of the tying mechanism in a bale tyingoperation;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view of the three intercepting members spacedin the longitudinal direction of the bale case and disposed at the upperside thereof;

FIG. 10 is an axial sectional view of oneof the two end interceptin gmembers;

FIG. 11 is an axial sectional view, partly in elevation, of the centralintercepting member; and

FIG. 12 is an end view of one of the elements of the cutting means andan associated bearing the shaft of the cutting means being shown incross section.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings the bale press shown therein,which is of the conventional horizontal type, comprises a vertical shaftor hopper 10 for supplying to the baler the material to be baled such aswaist paper, metal scrap,

crop, or any other material suitable for baling. Shaft 10 communicatesat the lower end thereof with the passage of a bale case 11 havingrectangular cross sectional form. In the shaft there may be providedmeans (not shown) for pre-compacting in the shaft the material to bebaled when such material is being pushed down into the passage of thebale case. A plunger 12 is reciprocable in bale case 11 past the openingof shaft 10 by means of hydraulic drive means, not shown, to compact thematerial supplied to the bale case against a back pressure applied tothe material in the bale case by the friction of the material againstthe'walls of the bale case, enhanced by a vertically pivoted frictionalgate 13 at the discharge end of the bale case such gate being biassedtowards the bottom wall of the bale case by means of a helical spring14. The compacted and bound bales are successively pushed out from thedischarge opening of bale case 11. g

In order to divide the material compacted in bale case 1 1 to formthereof bound bales of definite length there is provided in the balepress a tying mechanism operating with a number of parallel bottom wires15, three wires being shown which are extended individually from a wiresupply 16. Each wire passes intobale case 11 through an opening 17in thebottom wall of the bale case and extends in the longitudinal directionthereof under the compacted material therein. Needles 18 of a numbercorresponding to the number of wires '15 are provided to pull eachbottom wire 15 upwardly between individual bales. These needles aremounted substantially vertically on a needle frame 19 which is guidedfro vertical movement on a pair of vertical guides 20 disposed atopposite sides of the bale case and operable by hydraulic rams 21. Eachneedle is movable through the associated opening 17 in the bottom wallof the bale case. and opposite each of openings 17 there is provided anopening 22 in the top wall of the bale case. As will be seen in FIG. 3plunger 12 has three grooves 23 in the face thereof. When plunger 12 isin a position wherein said grooves are in register with openings 17- and22, needles 18 can be moved by hydraulic drive means 21 from belowvertically upwardly through the passage of the bale case and the groovesof the plunger to a position wherein the needles project from the upperside of the bale case. Needles 18 are operative to form a loop of eachbottom wire 15 when such wire is 'pulled up through the bale casetransversely thereof in a manner known perse in connection with balersof the type described.

According to the invention each needle is of a specific construction theneedle being forked to provide two'legs 1 8A and 18B spacedlongitudinally of the bale case. At the free end of each leg there isrotatably mounted a pulley 23A and 238,

respectively, for guiding wire 15 on the needle, and between I wiresupply 16 and needle 18 there is provided for each wire 15 a pulley 24rotatably mounted on bale case 11. According to the invention there areprovided for the tying of the bale also three top wires 25 which areextended each from a wire supply 26 and pass through openings 22 intothe passage of bale case 1 l to be disposed at the top side of thematerial compacted therein. For the guiding ofeach top wire 25 there arerotatably mounted on bale case 11 three axially registered interceptingmembers spaced longitudinally of the bale case. Thus, there are providedtwo end intercepting members 27 and one intermediate intercepting member27' which are arranged to allow the associated needle 18 to be movedupwardly the legs 18A and 18B thereof passing through the spaces betweenthe intercepting members. Over the two spaces of each set ofintercepting members 27 27' 27 there are provided two wire twisters 28and thus, when three bottom wires 15 and three top wires 25 are providedthere are three pairs of wire twisters. The twisters are supported by atwister frame 29 which is guided for movement vertically on guides 20and are adjustable by means of hydraulic rams 30. Each twister comprisesa spindle 31 which is joumalled in a bearing casing 32, and theplurality of twisters are rotated over transmission means by a commonhydraulic drive motor. At the lower free end of the spindle there ismounted a twister hook 33 formed as a sickle as shown in the plan viewof FIG. 4.

Thus, the twisters are movable vertically to and from a position in theproximity of intercepting members 27 27 27. Close to each spindle 31there is provided as a wire abutment a tube 34, the two tubes of a pairof twisters being pivoted at their opposite edges on twister frame 29 at34 to be swingable towards and from each other and being resilientlybiassed towards each other by means of a helical spring 34 for reasonswhich will be explained later. In this position each tube encloses theassociated spindle 31 excentrically as is shown in FIG. 7 (cf. FIGS. to8).

In the baler described the binding of the bales is performed by means ofthe tying mechanism according to the invention as described below withreference to the different steps of the method disclosed in FIGS. 5 to 8It is assumed that behind the bale just completed in bale case 1 1 therehas been compacted material corresponding to a bale length. Bottom'wiresand top wires 25 extend along the compacted material which shall formthe new bale, at the lower and upper sides, respectively, of thatmaterial, and needles 18 are in their lowermost position and twisters 28in their uppermost position as shown in FIG. 5. The material between theproceeding bale and plunger 12 being kept under pressure by the plungerwith grooves 23 thereof registering with associated openings 17 and 22,needles 18 are moved vertically in an upward direction by means ofhydraulic rams 21 through openings 17 into grooves 23. During thismovement bottom wires 15 being disposed over pullies 23Aand 2313 on legs18A and 18B of the needles, each will be extended into a loop betweenthe rearward lower edge of the new bale and pully 24, as shown in FIG.6. During the continued movement through grooves 23 legs 18A and 18B ofeach needle are raised through the spaces between intercepting members27 27 27 and carry top wire 25 on pullies 23A and 238 with them. Againstthe intercepting members there now will be formed of top wire 25 twowire loops projecting from the spaces between intercepting members 27 2727, and against, the intermediate intercepting member 27' there will befonned two substantially identical loops of bottom wire 15 such thatthere are provided two double wireloops 35A and 358 as shown in FIG. '7.Before or after the formation of these loops wire twisters 28 arelowered vertically by means of hydraulic rams 30 such that the needleswill be received into tubes 34 whereby spindles 31 of each pair oftwisters will be disposed close to the associated wire loops 35A and35B, respectively, FIG. 7. Then, needles 18 are lowered vertically totheir original position leaving the wire loops in a standing position.When'the wire twisters subsequently are rotated, for instance6grevolutions, twister hook 33 brings along the adjacent wire loop.Abutting tube 34 this loop will settle onto spindle 31 and will be woundone turn or so around spindle 31. It should be noted that twister hook33 will not be threaded into the wire loop but will embrace the samefrom outside. During the rotation of the wire twisters wire loops 35Aand 35B are twisted to form knots. When this has been done the twisterspindles are rotated for instance one revolution in the oppositedirection to loosen the twisted wire loops from the spindle, and whenthe wire twisters subsequently are retracted by an upward verticalmovement by means of hydraulic rams 30 the twisted wire 7 loops arestripped ofi from spindles 31 the condition according to FIG. 8 therebybeing obtained. It may happen that material from the bale will be drawnup into tubes 34by wires 15 and needles 18. These tubes are pivotableagainst the bias of springs 34" to be able to yield during the rotationof spindles 31 and allow such irrelevant material to rotate during thetwisting operation in order to avoid jamming between spindle andtube'.As the compacted material in bale case 11 is kept under pressure duringthe tying operation described it is not necessary to keep wires 15 and25 under tension during the tying operation. The reason is that whenplunger 12 is retracted and bottom wire 15 extended to a loop throughthe bale .case passes out of grooves 23 the compacted material willspring back by the inherent resiliency of the bale and the wires tiedaround the bale just formed will be put under tension to firmly hold thebale tightly compressed.

The arrangement of the three intercepting members 27 27' 27 is shown indetail in FIGS. 9 to 12. Each intercepting member 27 comprises a pulleyhaving a concave envelop surface and is joumalled by trunnions 36 inball bearings 37 received by bearing cases 38 which are mounted on balecase 11. Intermediate intercepting member 27' is of another constructionto provide simultaneously cutting means for severing wires 15 and 25after the tying of a bale. This intercepting member comprises acylindrical shaft-39 which is rotatably and axially displaceablyjoumalled in bores in two bearing blocks 40 which are in turnnon-rotatably but axially displaceably joumalled each in onebearingcasing 41 mounted on bale case 11. One of the bearing blocks 40 hasbeneath shaft 39 a cutting edge 42 the other bearing block having ananvil 43. The bores in bearing blocks 40 are of sufficient axial lengthto allow the bearing blocks to be displaced, towards each other in orderto allow edge 42 to be engaged with anvil 43, and to be displaced fromeach other to the position shown in FIGS. 9 and 11 wherein shaft 39 isuncovered between the bearing blocks but is still joumalledin theseblocks over a sufficient axial length to prevent the shaft from slidingout of one of these bores. For operating the bearing blocks between thespaced position according to FIGS. 9 and 11 'to the closed positionwherein edge 42 is engaged 'with anvil 43 there is mounted on bale case11 a double acting hydraulic ram 44 having two plungers 45 which areextendable and retractable at opposite ends thereof. These plungers areconnected with bearing blocks 40 by means of double arm levers 46pivoted between their ends on bale casing 11 in fulcrums 47 and formingball joint ends 48 engaging grooves 49 in said blocks.

' When bearing blocks 40 are spaced according to FIGS. 9 and 11 theloops are formed of wires 15 and 25 in the manner described, and whenthese loops have been twisted to form knots the bearing blocks areclosed to severe the wires beneath shaft 39 between cutting edge 42 andanvil 43 thebound bale thereby will be separated from the balesubsequently compacted in the bale case.

After the tying operation described further material will be compactedin bale case 1.1 by means of plunger 12 the bales previously formed atthe same time being successively advanced in the 'bale case to bedischarged successively therefrom. During this operation the top andbottom wires will be extended successively at the lower side and theupper side, respectively, of the material now compacted. When there hasbeen compacted material to the length prescribedfor a bale the tyingoperation will be repeated. .Thus, at each end of a bale there will beperformed twisting of each bottom vwire and the associated top wire.

will automatically interrupt the compacting of material in bale,

case 11 with plunger 12 in a forward position when the prescribed balelength has been obtained, and will restart the tying operation which maybe automatically controlled by a timer.

The invention may be modified within the scope of the claims and may beutilized in connection with balers of other types than that describedabove for instance a baler having a vertical bale case.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bale press having a bale case and a plunger reciprocable in saidbale case and forming at least one groove in the face thereof, a tyingmechanism for bales comprising at least one needle reciprocable throughsaid groove from one of two opposite sides of the bale case transverselythereof, said needle being forked to provide two legs; means forsupplying a first wire to said one side of the bale case;threeintercepting members spaced in the longitudinal direction of saidbale case at the other one of said opposite sides; means for supplying asecond wire to said other side of the bale case, said needle passingthrough the spaces between said intercepting members to engage saidfirst and second wires and to form thereof two wire loops spaced in thelongitudinal direction of said ball loops individually; two elementsdisplaceable on the central intercepting member for movement towards andaway from each other; co-operating cutting members on said elementsdisposed at the side of said central intercepting member which faces thebale case; and means for displacing said elements towards and away fromeach other to keep the elements spaced when the wire loops are formedand to thereafter severe the wires by means of the cutting members whensaid elements are displaced towards each other.

2. A tying mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which said intermediateintercepting member comprises a shaft which is rotatably and axiallydisplaceably mounted in said elements, and in which these elements arenon-rotatably guided for displacement axially of said shaft.

3. A tying mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which said wire twistersare operable to be displaced towards and away from the spaces betweensaid intercepting members and each comprise a rotatable spindle having atwister hook mounted thereon, and in which there is provided close toeach spindle an abutment for applying a wire loop caught by said hookagainst the surface of the spindle, said abutment being formed by a tubefor each spindle and surrounding the spindle, said tubes being pivotedat the ends thereof opposite to said hook at their opposite edges andbeing resiliently biassed to abut each other.

1. In a bale press having a bale case and a plunger reciprocable in saidbale case and forming at least one groove in the face thereof, a tyingmechanism for bales comprising at least one needle reciprocable throughsaid groove from one of two opposite sides of the bale case transverselythereof, said needle being forked to provide two legs; means forsupplying a first wire to said one side of the bale case; threeintercepting members spaced in the longitudinal direction of said balecase at the other one of said opposite sides; means for supplying asecond wire to said other side of the bale case, said needle passingthrough the spaces between said intercepting members to engage saidfirst and second wires and to form thereof two wire loops spaced in thelongitudinal direction of said ball case; a wire twisting memberopposite each of the spaces between said intercepting members fortwisting said wire loops individually; two elements displaceable on thecentral intercepting member for movement towards and away from eachother; co-operating cutting members on said elements disposed at theside of said central intercepting member which faces the bale case; andmeans for displacing said elements towards and away from each other tokeep the elements spaced when the wire loops are formed and tothereafter severe the wires by means of the cutting members when saidelements are displaced towards each other.
 2. A tying mechanism asclaimed in claim 1 in which said intermediate intercepting membercomprises a shaft which is rotatably and axially displaceably mounted insaid elements, and in which these elements are non-rotatably guided fordisplacement axially of said shaft.
 3. A tying mechanism as claimed inclaim 1 in which said wire twisters are operable to be displaced towardsand away from the spaces between said intercepting members and eachcomprise a rotatable spindle having a twister hook mounted thereon, andin which there is provided close to each spindle an abutment forapplying a wire loop caught by said hook against the surface of thespindle, said abutment being formed by a tube for each spindle andsurrounding the spindle, said tubes being pivoted at the ends thereofopposite to said hook at their opposite edges and being resilientlybiassed to abut each other.